Knight.
A word that can resonate even in a child rolling in the mud in an alley.
There was a person who opened the door to the world of knights, a world that seemed impossible to reach even if you crawled your whole life.
He was a person with a blue world that did not lose its presence even under the moonlight.
And the child lost his home because of the world he possessed.
Jorge's eyes vacillated emptily at the tips of his fingers.
Hard pieces of flesh fell onto his head.
The Knight of the Blue Moonlight, who filled the child with pieces that were both salvation and insult, spoke.
"A knight always receives fair compensation."
The third discipline of the Sword Master.
A knight must always be honorable.
Therefore, he must always receive fair compensation.
"I am here to pay you a fair price for your handkerchief, Lady Alicia."
And now even the child knows the rules.
The child's toes, struggling to crawl through the dirt, finally touched the blue light of the moon.
The child, who could now confidently reach out for fair recompense, lifted his head to the noble Lady.
"For that price, I will stake my knight's honor."
The world I dreamed of, the world I longed for.
And the world I swore to destroy.
Vlad whispered quietly in front of the Knight of the Blue Moonlight.
I finally have the right to stand in front of you.
"With my name backed by Bayezid."
Knight of Bayezid, Vlad of Soara.
"…"
"…"
The blue and the other blue looked at each other in silence.
The child's bright eyes resembled his world.
***
"Vlad. Vlad of Soara..."
A hall provided by Alicia for the Western guests.
There, Stephen was sitting on a chair and eating his fill.
I thought things would develop easily, but Bayezid made an unexpected move.
"Is this the first time you've heard this name?"
With those words, Stephen turned his head towards Godin sitting beside him.
A man who always has a smile on his face.
However, today he had a disheveled expression instead of the usual fixed smile.
"Acquaintances?"
Normally, Stephen wouldn't have paid attention to the Northern knights.
His bold personality, inherited along with his blood, usually easily relegated insignificant beings to oblivion.
However, the Northern boy was different.
"He seemed very arrogant."
"...So it seems."
I thought we had clashed, but it wasn't.
Vlad's eyes only looked at Godin, who was behind him, not at Stephen.
Stephen felt a new sense of insult and curiosity seeing Vlad easily ignoring him.
"...If they know each other, they can say they know each other."
Godin responded to Stephen's question, but he still couldn't get out of his thoughts.
The intense gaze the boy sent still made Godin lose himself in the rose's smile.
"I never imagined we would meet in a place like this."
What saved the boy that day was not just a matter of sympathy.
The boy's potential shone brightly and made him support it.
Even if there is a possibility that he will reappear later in the future.
"I'm very proud."
A child crawling on the bloody ground.
The child who cried loudly behind him.
But the boy from back then is no longer there.
The boy standing before Godin today was Vlad of Soara, the knight of Bayezid.
"I never thought he'd be that type."
Godin leaned back in the chair, remembering the blue eyes looking at him.
It was an incredible outcome, but the Vlad of Soara he had only heard about was indeed the Vlad he knew.
"What should we do now?"
"..."
Godin's eyes widened at Stephen's blunt question.
Now that he had lost his thoughts, he realized his position and quickly calculated what action to take next.
"...There's no way."
A knight named Godin was also a man who could sever old and cherished relationships with his lord's orders.
Although it was a wasted possibility, there would be no reason to hesitate if it was blocking his path.
"It's a law that applies everywhere, that the winner takes all."
The boy held a handkerchief with a noble name engraved on it, and that was the only justification for preventing Stephen from making a false marriage proposal to him.
"Challenge the boy to a duel."
"A duel?"
An honorable battlefield where only the worthy can ascend.
Now that the boy has become a knight, he will be able to ascend in his own name without having to borrow someone else's honor.
"Isn't it true that young lovers sometimes fight to win the heart of a noble lady?"
Godin smiled as he looked at Stephen.
His expression was the same as always, and it was also an expression that Sigmund, the loser from the West, trusted.
"Alright."
Stephen laughed along with Godin's smile, who had finally found his original place.
The West will do whatever it takes to get what it wants.
Stephen smiled fiercely, remembering the blue eyes that had ignored him.
***
"Thank you for coming. Knights of Bayezid."
A place where you can see a tree rooted on a low hill outside the window.
Jager and Vlad, who entered Alicia's office as guests, bowed their heads once again in response to her greeting.
"Joseph said he would demonstrate that the alliance between Bayezid and Hainal is strong."
"I suppose I should send him a letter of thanks."
Alicia listened to Jager's response and nodded with a confident smile.
For this mission, Joseph selected knights competing for the top not only Jager and Vlad but also Bayezid, and sent them to Hainal.
It was also a test of the value of the territory called Deirmar in an increasingly urgent situation.
"Here is a letter from Mr. Joseph."
Alicia accepted the letter handed to her by Joseph.
"He said that although Mr. Vlad has Alicia's handkerchief, it won't be easy for him to refuse Gaidar's marriage proposal."
After receiving the letter from Alicia, Joseph left his work in Soara aside and quickly ascended to Sturma.
It was a measure to expedite the preparations for the boy, which had been prepared for a long time, but it was also a measure to prepare a more determined number for this task.
"Is this it?"
"Please read it."
After hearing Jager, Alicia opened the envelope engraved with the Bayezid emblem.
The message from Joseph written in the letter inside.
Alicia's eyes began to tremble slightly as she read the letter.
"...There was also a method like this."
"I did my best for Deirmar."
After reading the letter, Alicia's eyes looked at the knights of Bayezid with a different light than before.
It was a colder and fainter look, a little more noble than before.
"Because I am also a person of the same blood as Lady Oksana. It's quite possible."
Duncan, who was beside Alicia, realized that her reaction was unusual and quickly took the letter and read it.
'...Oh my god.'
It was something he was prepared to do, but as expected, there was no one anywhere to help Deirmar out of pure kindness.
Duncan read Joseph's intentions in the words written in the letter and left it with a sad expression.
Like all nobles, Alicia Hainal was born with many noble lineages through a marriage that had been maintained since her ancestors.
Among them, Alicia had the blood of the Oscar family through her grandmother, and this blood continued through Joseph's mother's family, Oksana.
"...If the Countess Bayezid becomes my godmother, I'm sure I can easily reject the current marriage proposal."
"That's right."
Alicia's problem is that she has no parents.
Therefore, the problem was that she had no choice but to immediately be shaken by Gaidar's marriage proposal, but the story would be a little different if Oksana became her godmother.
If Stephen really wants to marry Alicia, he will have to get permission from Oksana.
"I fear I may dare to be a burden to the Countess."
"Lady Oksana said Alicia is always welcome."
Godmother or godfather.
The relationship between an adult and a child is bound religiously through notarial certification from the church.
At worst, when the lineage is threatened, it would be the only way to protect a child who still cannot protect themselves, but everywhere responsibility is accompanied by authority.
"Do I have to decide right now?"
"No. We also know this will be a burden for Lady Alicia."
Alicia, the sole Hainal.
and Oksana Bayezid, who could become her sole guardian.
If Alicia accepts Joseph's proposal, Bayezid's intervention in Hainall will have a solid justification.
"...It's been a while since I've seen you, Mr. Vlad."
Gaidar approaches a pure girl under the pretext of proposing marriage.
Bayezid uses protection as bait for an orphan without parents.
For powerless Alicia and Deirmar, there were already few people they could trust.
"How about this? Do you feel overwhelmed by your current work?"
The boy in front of me is also the knight of Bayezid.
Therefore, it is natural for him to be more loyal to Bayezid than to himself, but the boy will still be a little more trustworthy than Joseph in the sense that he has a duty to fulfill.
"I'll do my best for Lady Alicia. That's what I was ordered to do, and I want to do it again."
Alicia smiled weakly, looking into Vlad's eyes as he spoke without hesitation.
She knew well from the duel that day that the boy was someone who always did his best.
She also knew he was a child with a simple and faithful attitude, as she saw him praying under the family tree.
Although it was due to a misunderstanding.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Vlad."
Alicia said with a smile, extending her hand towards Vlad.
"Please show me my handkerchief. Since you've been keeping it for so long, wouldn't it need some maintenance?"
I have no doubt the boy kept his handkerchief safe.
However, since it would have been carried for over half a year, it would have been appropriate to clean it at least once before presenting it in front of people.
"Yes."
Alicia felt proud watching Vlad reach deep into his breast, as if he had kept it very carefully.
Although she was still under pressure between the two families surrounding Deirmar, seeing the boy showing his pure side seemed to heal her a little.
"Here you go."
As expected, the handkerchief the boy pulled out was carefully folded and stored just as she had given it.
If not for the other handkerchief that came with it.
"..."
Vlad looked at another handkerchief that came with it and tried to put it away again as if nothing had happened, but Alicia's hand was quicker to stop him.
Sometimes women moved faster than knights.
"I don't think this is the handkerchief I gave you."
Alicia picks up a handkerchief she had never seen before, as if asking Vlad to look here.
Duncan's neck turned red at the terrible sight right beside him, and Jager covered his one remaining eye with the palm of his hand with a small sigh.
"Nothing special, it's a handkerchief my friend gave me. It's actually a handkerchief I use..."
Vlad didn't know why, but he thought that what he said sounded like a careless excuse.
It felt similar to the excuses given by men whose wives caught them going to a brothel.
But he is different from them.
There is nothing to be ashamed of because you have confidence.
Wasn't it originally received by accident and not exchanged to check each other's feelings?
"Is a handkerchief so trivial…?"
Vlad's voice gradually becomes calmer, contrary to his feelings of confidence.
Although he had received a thorough education from Oksana, the boy, who still did not know the inner world of the aristocrats, simply looked at Alicia with distant eyes.
"Lady… Zemina."
The boy said it was a common handkerchief, but Alicia could sense that the handkerchief with her name embroidered in fine thread was not that kind of item.
Alicia wanted to maintain composure as much as possible, but today was very difficult for her.
Therefore, I couldn't help but feel momentarily shaken by emotions difficult to express.
"Is that person your friend?"
"Yes. We've grown up together since we were children."
"Ah, I see."
Vlad smiled as he saw Alicia nod.
'Shut up. If you say one more word, I'll kill you.'
However, he closed his mouth when Jager touched his side.
The boy looks around at Jager's sudden warning.
A baroness with an exaggerated smile.
An old knight with a face so red it looked like it was going to explode.
Jager who looked pale.
The atmosphere around was unusual.
'…Ah.'
Although his knowledge of the aristocratic world was not deep, the boy, who had a keen sense of insight, realized it.
That he has now made a mistake again.
Not even the white snake embracing the tree on the hill can do anything about my current mistake.